Lappet loom



J. 5. KANE LAPPET LOOM Feb. 20, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10, 1948 INVENTOR.

JOHN S. KANE Feb. 20, 1951 J. 5. KANE 2,542,677

LAPPET LOOM Filed Dec. 10, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Fi, Fi.4 Fz 5, 62 5* I 5 A 6% 6O M 6 63 JNVENTOR.

JOHN S. KANE EM EM Patented F eb. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,542,677 LAIPET LooM V John s. Kane, Lowell, Mass. Application December 10, 1948, Serial No. 64,603

'7 Claims. (01. 139-49) This invention relates to an improved lappet loom.

In my invention an ordinary weaving loom is used to which there has been added my improved lappet attachment for the purpose of weaving into the fabric a design formed by means of extra warp yarns. The ground weave is formed by the usual harnesses for the warp yarns'-together with the filling yarns carried by the shuttle or shuttles. The extra warp yarns are carried by my improved lappet needles guided in my improved lappet needle tracks.

4 It has been customary in lappet looms to provide a series of lappet needles in front ofthe lay and in front of the reed carried by the lay, thus placin them in the path of the moving shuttle and the lay. Ithas therefore been necessary to use complicatedmechanism to pivot the needles out of the way at each pick-onto mount them on the reed or lay so that they travel w it In my invention the lappet needles are placed in back of the lay and reed and therefore I eliminate all of the apparatus necessary to synchronously remove them from the path of moving parts as shown and described in previous patents. I have discovered that the needles will operate advantageously in this position bythe use of an uncapped reed rather than the usual reed'used heretofore. located inback of the lay, can be raised suffi ciently to lift the extra Warp yarns out from be: tween the dents of the uncapped reed whereupon he extra yarns can be moved transversely to new positions. g H; The lappet yarns used in my invention are preferably carried on supply package of any well known type such as spools which are lo cated on top of the arch o f-the loom I provide a he m l e efl l knew tyre.- terse: trol the flow of yarn from the supply packagepass through the warp harnesses, but pass from the top of the arch to the eye of my lappet needles.

Ea h P m l p il e e Part a ext warp. yarn which normally" passes through the reed and'the entire assembly offllappetjneedles so fixed. to"a"ver'tically movable harne's'sfthatthey can. be lifted and lowered "as the layl moves forward and back. My"v needles areof'ffiatin'etal' heddle construction having a hooker-eye at the top to pass over a heddlerod, a yarn eye int re.

mediate of the heddle and a guide head at the we whi is me es a m a back.-

My lappet needles, while edges to grasp flat vertical tracks and pass smoothly over a split in such vertical tracks.

My upright parallel vertical tracks are at the front and back of each needle with the lower part of the tracks fixed to the frame of the loom, and with the guide head slidable thereon. Each, track is split diagonally intermediate thereof 5 and the upper portions are so mounted that they can bemoved transversely in either direction as an unit.

In operation my lappet needles are moved up and down along the fixed lower and movable upper tracks in synchronization with the movement of the lay. 'I h e yarn carried by the needles thus passe into spaces between the dents of the reed in the lower position but is lifted. out ofthe spaces between the dents of the reed in the upper position. When-the lappet needles are in the upward position, with the lappet yarn out of the spaces between the reed dents, a slighttransverse movement of the upper track is'caused by the pattern mechanism of the loom which actuates my lappet pattern mechanism and thereby permits each lappet yarn to be lowered between a difierent pair of teeth or dents on'the reed. For every second pick of the loom, therefore as the fillin yarn is beaten into the cloth,

by the front set of harness jacks in a multiple harness loom. I provide quick action cams, pive oted eccentrically to lift theneedles, permit them to be moved transversely and lower the needles while the lay is completing one pick. I provide a pattern chain of well known construction having projecting studs, the chain being actuated by the usual loom mechanism to cause the upper tracks of my device to movetransversely. in -a H n r n steady 'progressionthus achieving a predeterand take up any slack. The extra yarns do not mined lappet type design, If desired, my lappet yarns can be tied in-with the ground weave less often, for example every fourth or sixth pick, by a well known adjustment oftheloom harness jacks. Similarly I can move my lappet harness transversely i'n-a steady progression of one reed dent at a time or several I reed dents can be skipped with each transverse movement, all depending on the particular studs My attachment may be used on plain and fancy looms to great advantage. if a lappet yarn for each dent of the reed is pro-, vided, I can completely cover or plate the ground For. example,,

middle or at each edge or by many other variations. In Jacquard looms my device can be used to advantage in certain circumstances such as for plating or covering a stain in the warp with lappet yarns.

The transverse movement of my lappet yarns may cause them to weave into the'selvage edge of the fabric but of course this sidewise movement need not go beyond the edge of the woven fabric. Since my device is designed for attachment on well known types of looms and the design, picking and shedding mechanism on such looms is well known in the art, the accompanying drawings are diagrammatic with respect to such well known mechanism. To further clarify my invention and its relation to an ordinary loom, I

line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the operating mechanism of my lappet attachment.

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of my lappet attachment showing only so much of an ordinary loom as is necessary to make clear the relative locations of the parts of my invention.

Fig. 4. is a front elevation and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of my improved lappet needle and lappet needle tracks.

Figs. 6 to 10 are side elevations, in sect-ion, similar to Fig. l, to illustrate the'working of the extra lappet yarns into the ground weave as the lay moves forward and back.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, F is the frame of a plain, fancy or Jacquard loom having a lay L pivoted at 2| for a shuttle such as S. The cloth C passes over a cross member 22 of frame F, thence over rolls 23, 24 and onto cloth roll 25 upon which it is Wound. The loom upon which my device is attached may have a picking motion of any well known construction and therefore it is not illustrated.

The shedding motion of the loom is also of well known construction and consists of a set of heddle harnesses 3|, 32, 33, and 34 for the warp yarns of the ground weave each lifted and lowered in accordance with the design in the usual way. However, I do not use the first two or three harness jacks in the head motion as ground weave harnesses but instead use the space occupied by, and operating mechanism of, such harness jacks to actuate my new lappet needle harness A.

Instead of a reed with perforations or similar upper position, it is no longer held between the dents and may be moved in either direction transversely.

Harness A is suspended by flexible members 40, H, passing through fixed guides 42, 43 and each passing over an eccentric cam 44 or 45 substituted for the usual circular harness pulleys such as 49 of the head motion. Member is so fixed to cam 44 and member 4| is so fixed to cam and both 42] and M are so attached to the arm 41 of front harness jack J that when the jack is rotated on its pivot 48, the harness A is lifted and lowered more rapidly than the ground weave harnesses.

Although return springs can be used, I prefer to insure positive operation of harness A by providing flexible members 50 and 5| which pass around pulleys 52, 53, through a fixed guide 54 and are attached to an eccentric cam 55 of the same shape as cams 44 and 45. A flexible member 56 connects cam 55 with arm 36 of jack J- so that when the jack is actuated by the pattern mechanism of the loom, the harness is also actuated.

Harness A comprises a fiat metal rod 68, similar to a heddle bar, which may be suspended directly from members 45 and 4! or may be held by single or double side hooks, such as 5 i, G l, threaded into a wood or metal frame member 62 in a well known manner as shown clearly in Fig. 3. As illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, an opening 53 is provided in each of my heddle-like needles 64 whereby the needles are slidably supported on rod 60. Near the other end of the the needles 6d, a yarn eye 65 is provided of a well known construction. At the lower extremity of the needles 64, just below eye 65, I provide what I call a guide head 56, bifurcated at front and back edges I66 and 67 to form grooves such as 88, 69.

Each head 66 of a needle 64 is guided on a pair of vertical tracks I0 and H, the groove 68 straddling track 10 and the groove 69 straddling track ll. Vertical tracks 10 and I l are separable at diagonal splits I2 and 13 to form an upper section I4 and 15 and a lower section 16 and TI. The lower sections '15 and T! are fixed to a single transverse frame member 18 supported on frame F of the loom. I provide a few extra of such lower sections Ni, H at each side of the loom as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The upper sections 14 and I5 are carried by two transverse members I9 and which rest on suitable rollers such as Bl to enable the upper sections of the vertical i tracks to be moved transversely of the loom as I is controlled by the usual harness motion of the expedients as used in prior device, I provided a.

loom through one or more of the forward harness sprocket 94, and two idler sprockets and 96. "are provided for chain 92 and, of course, the

studs 93 can be arranged to form any desired 5 lappet design; Member 80 is-usually moved only the distance between two adjacent vertical lower tracks by each stud 93 to give a steady progression but could be moved several times'that distance if desired. .1.)

A typical operation of my lappet attachment iS Sh-OWD. in-Figs. 6 to 10. In Fig.6 the lay L is in its rea r position, shuttle S is travelling across the lay Lfon what I shall call the first pick, carrying the filling yarn of the ground weave and lappet yarn M is up out of the uncapped reed R. Yarn M is held in its upper position in the upper portion of tracks 10, TI, since cams 44, 45 and 55 are all in their upper position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Ground weave harness 33, carrying yarn I is up and ground weave harness 34, carrying yarn 0| is down, thus forming a shed at H0 for the passage therethrough of the shuttle S. The operation of the remaining harnesses such as 3i and 32 is not described inasmuch as their operation is similar to that of harnesses 33 and 34 as will be apparent to anyone skilled in the art of weaving on automatic looms.

In Fig. '7, the lay L is shown beating the filling yarn i2| up into the cloth C while simultaneously the harnesses 33 and 34 have changed position so that yarn I0! is now up and yarn I00 is down. My lappet needle guide head 66 has been moved across the split 12 and 13 of tracks 10 and H by the rotation of earns 44, 45 and 55 to the lower position of said cams. Yarn M is thus once more held within the reed R while the head 66 of needle 64 has passed between the warp yarns of the ground weaveto a point well below them.

In Fig. 8, the harnesses 33 and 34 are in the same position as in Fig. '7, but the lay L has returned to its rearward position and shuttle .S is carrying another strand of filling yarn I2l through the shed on its second pick. The filling yarn trailed behind shuttle S thus passes over the lappet yarns M to incorporate them into the ground weave underneath the filling yarn rather than above the filling yarn as in Fig. 6 and Fig. 10.

In Fig. 9, the filling l2l is again beaten up to the cloth C by lay L and reed R while my lappet needle 64, its guide head Y66 and lappet yarn M have moved to their original upper positions on tracks 10, H after passing over the split I2, 13. Harnesses 33 and 34 have again reversed positions to create a new shed and yarn M is again out of reed R. The pattern chain '92 at this point is revolved a small amount on its sprockets so that a stud 93 moves 80 transversely the desired distance such as the distance between two vertical tracks 10, H in either direction.

The upper portions i4 and I of tracks and II are thus placed in line with an adjacent pair of lower tracks 16 and H with the diagonal splits 72 and I3 touching to form a continuous vertical track for heads 66.

As shown in Fig. 10, when lay L returns again to its rearward position shown in Fig. 6, shuttle S carries another filling yarn across the lay L on its third pick and the heads as and eyes .65 of lappet needless 64 are still in the upward position but are ready to descend in a new position transversely of the loom.

It is obvious that this operation can be continued throughout the weaving of the cloth, with the lappet yarn being incorporated into the weave at every second pick of the shuttle and each time in a. different.transverselocaticn calledfor by the lappet design chain 92. 1' Myflappet yarns are carried on supply pack ages such. as spools or drums not shown and are led-into the eyes of each lappet needle over or under suitable guides such as I40.

I I claim:

1 In a loom, a lay with an uncapped reed; a needle track vertically positioned behind the lay. and having a fixed lower section and a transversely movable upper section; a lappet needle slidably mounted on said track; means for reciprocatine' 1the needle on the upper and lower sections of the track and means for moving said upper track section transversely in accordance with a predetermined lappet-type pattern.

2. In a lappet loom, a lay with an uncapped reed; a pair of upstanding, parallel needle tracks supported independently in rear of the lay and having a fixed lower section which registers with a transversely movable upper section; a lappet needle slidably mounted between said parallel tracks and adapted to reciprocate between said upper and lower sections; and a pattern chain for moving said upper track section transversely of the loom in accordance with a predetermined lappet-type design.

3. A lappet attachment for a loom comprising an uncapped reed; a vertically reciprocating harness frame containing a plurality of lappet needles; a plurality of lower needle track sections fixed to said loom; and a plurality of upper needle track sections movable transversely as an unit while carrying said lappet needles, to form continuous tracks with said lower needle track sections in various locations transversely of the loom.

4. For use in a lappet loom having vertical parallel tracks, split intermediate thereof into a fixed lower section and a transversely movable upper section; a lappet needle having an opening at the top for a rod, an eye near the bottom for a lappet yarn and a guide head at the bottom having bifurcated edges adapted to slide on said parallel tracks and across the split in said tracks.

5. For use in a lappet loom having an uncapped reed and heddle-typelappet needles carried by a forward harness frame, each needle having a guide head below the yarn eye; a pair of upstanding parallel tracks for said guide head, located between adjacent warp threads and comprising a fixed lower portion which registers with a transversely movable upper portion.

6. A lappet attachment for a loom having a lay comprising an uncapped reed mounted on the lay; a plurality of lappet needles suspended from a needle rod and arranged for vertical reciprocation behind the lay and a plurality of pairs of upstanding tracks to guide the free end of each needle, said tracks having a transversely movable upper section for switching said needles to various transverse positions of registration with fixed lower sections of said tracks.

'7. The combination in a loom for weaving, including a stationary frame, a warp beam at the back and a cloth beam at the front together with a reciprocating lay between them and harnesses to weave the body of a web of cloth and means to pick a shuttle along the race of the lay; of one or more feed spools near the back for special lappet yarns; a reed carried by the lay and with fiat dents having spaces therebetween which are open at the top, each dent being pointed; a bottom set of flat tracks fixed to the frame between the harnesses and the lay and extending upward REFERENCES CITED beyond the extreme vertical traverse of the har- "T following references are of record in the nesses and with pointed tops; a series Of-flat me of this patent: tracks extending down to register with the bottom tracks and means to move such downwardly '5 UNITED STATES PATENTS extending tracks traversely; together with special Number Na D t lappet needles attached to a special lappet needle 1,5 1, 27 Wilkinson 17 1925' rod, each needle having at its bottom end a guide 2,4 7,072 n Apt 2 1949 head adapted to slide vertically from top track members to bottom track members and means to 10 FOREIGN PATENTS move such special needles up and down. Number Country Date 7,901 Great Britain of 1909 JOHN S. KANE. V 

